We are thrilled to announce this Open Seminar co-organised by COALESCE Lab and INMIX - UAB Research Group featuring leading expert in migration studies Prof. Louise Ryan, Senior Professor of Sociology and Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, London Metropolitan University.
- Title: 'I cannot live without friends': using longitudinal, qualitative social network analysis to understand how refugees forge new relationships in new places.
- Date: 27 November 2025 15:00–16:30 h.
- Format: hybrid.
- Place: Room B5C/011 P-24, Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Bellaterra Campus).
- Link for online participation: here
Abstract: ‘I cannot live without friends’: using longitudinal, qualitative social network analysis to understand how refugees forge new relationships in new places. Following forced displacement, refugees are likely to experience network rupture, as ties are torn and scattered. Resettlement in new, unfamiliar areas, can result in isolation and loneliness. Homophilic ties to co-ethnics, may be a source of solace and companionship, but do not necessarily generate required resources or enable desired expression of particular identities. However, forging new ties to diverse social actors can be fraught with challenges.
Social network analysis offers a well-stocked toolkit for researching tie composition and the meaning of relationships. In this paper, I respond to calls
for more research on the specificity of refugee networks by using qualitative longitudinal research and network visualisation techniques with recently
resettled Afghans in London. Using network stories and sociograms, I seek to advance knowledge of how relationality is developed with particular people in
particular places and the extent to which those ties are sustained over time. Thus, I aim to add new understanding of the meaning of relationships, what
these people do for each other, and how networks enable or hinder expressions of identity. The paper highlights the role of mutuality, commonality and
opportunity and, in so doing, challenges simplistic notions of homophily within refugee networks.
About the speaker: Louise Ryan is Senior Professor of Sociology and Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Metropolitan University. Before that, she was Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield (2016–2020). Prior to that, she was Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Social Policy Research Centre at Middlesex University. Professor Ryan has a particular interest in migration, including intra-EU mobility and more recently on refugee resettlement, and has published many highly cited articles on migrant social networks. Her most recent book is Social Networks and Migration, published by Policy Press, 2023.
